.NET Core Renderer Add-on in Sitefinity Cloud: More Than Just Cool Tech

When was the last time you pulled that shiny new laptop from its sleeve just to get up to speed with your social feed, skim through your email or track a parcel delivery?

Smartphones, for example, have become as powerful as desktop workstations and the fact that they are always within your reach is guaranteed to satisfy your hunger for instant gratification. And it does not end there. Connected devices, wearables, POS terminals—they all have become “shortcuts” for you and important communication and revenue generation channels for many organizations.

And, while perseverance in the gym or at work could be considered a virtue, there is nothing wrong with cutting corners when it comes to using technology to free up more time for the things and people you love and mean the world to you.

Recent global events, availability of technology, easy access to products and services and even reading an eye-opening book could have a tremendous impact on our lives.

While this can go somehow unnoticed and many of us would claim that we are still the same adorable creatures underneath, organizations with an eye for detail might be able to spot not so subtle shifts in consumer behavior, prompting them to rethink their five-year plans.

Whether you are a developer, a website manager or someone in charge of orchestrating the success of the entire company’s digital presence, getting in sync with Marketing, Business Intelligence, Demand Generation and the web team could help identify trends that could have not so positive impacts on your org if they go unnoticed.

Crunching some data and digging into reports is always a good idea. Is mobile traffic on the rise? Are conversions up? Has engagement started to suffer since the previous quarter? If you are a developer and think, this does not concern me, well…. It is worth giving this another thought. You should aim to make sure that the butterfly effect has a positive impact on your org, not the other way around.

What does this have to do with .NET Core and Sitefinity Cloud?

Long story short, they provide the awesome combo of tools and platform capabilities that can accelerate your growth while leaving even more headroom to innovate and scale.

The long answer involves understanding the complex user journey, the specific needs of your customers for personalized, always-on access to information, the growing number of touchpoints and the myriad of business systems that need to work in sync.

Here is where Sitefinity Cloud and the new .NET Core Renderer Add-on can help alleviate some of the stress caused by the growing number of high priority items on your backlog.

Firstly: By offloading infrastructure and management, system integrators and digital agencies can focus on what they do best: Creating epic digital experiences and delivering value.

Secondly: Tech leaders will ensure that the org can address the needs of internal stakeholders and rise to the challenges, leveraging modern and secure technology, and enabling Marketing to thrive in the process.

Thirdly: It is a common misconception that developers only need caffeine to keep it going. They also need technology and tools guaranteed to fuel their passion, keep them in the flow and enabling them to stay productive and inspired. With its multi-tier architecture and various add-ons, Sitefinity Cloud packs a lot of punch and comes loaded with everything that developers and DevOps—the unsung heroes—need in order to stay in top shape.

At its core, Sitefinity DX provides a solid foundation for building great experiences, combining ease of use with the high level of customization and scalability enterprises have come to expect. According to many peer reviews, Sitefinity easily outperforms other well-known vendors and it delivers unmatched value that is guaranteed to keep your C-level staff happy and your IT and Marketing sane.

The latest release boasts support for .NET Core, offering a new level of flexibility to develop cross-platform web applications and deliver multichannel content with ease.

We have decoupled the backend from the presentation layer to offer you a clear path forward towards taking your digital experience to the next level.

Marketing will appreciate the ease of use and the new opportunities to deliver content to multiple channels.

Developers, on the other hand, now have a full quiver of tools to build adaptive and responsive front-end experiences using the technology of their choice.

Consider Sitefinity Cloud and .NET Core as catalysts, designed to help organizations of all sizes maximize their potential and free more resources to support business growth.

More importantly, by aligning goals and working in sync, IT and Marketing can turn the odds in their favor and win where others see challenges.

Contrary to “Don’t fix it if it isn’t broken”, organizations should reevaluate whether their current state of digital and technological maturity can continue to support their long-term goals. Even if you are not ready to rebuild or migrate all your existing web properties, starting the journey now will take you one step closer to achieving your goals and far ahead of your competition.

Getting Started With .NET Core Frontend

Available with all Sitefinity Cloud tiers as an add-on, NET Core Frontend was designed from the ground up to help you reduce time to market, streamline management and easily develop cross-platform experiences that take place on multiple platforms and devices, beyond just websites.

In addition to the existing layer of services in Sitefinity Cloud, with the .NET Core Renderer, you have access to the following:

•  Additional Azure DevOps repository, based on Git, for developing the .NET Core Renderer
• Additional App Services for each environment where the .NET Core Renderer application is deployed
• Additional pipeline for building and deploying the .NET Core Renderer across each environment
• Automated upgrades for the .NET Core Renderer application

And, because the .NET Core renderer is deployed independently of the classic Sitefinity app, you can achieve greater velocity for changes to the fronted of the website.

Getting started with .NET Core development is easy. The following resources will provide more information on how to get jump start development on .NET Core in Sitefinity.

1) Watch this on-demand webinar, featuring a case study with tips for migrating to .NET Core, to learn how our new architecture enables you to build and deliver next-gen digital experiences. On this webinar, our engineers talk about:

• Tips on how to seamlessly migrate to .NET Core
• The current and future state of Sitefinity's .NET Core re-platforming
• Why your next Sitefinity project should be on .NET Core
• In this blog post, we’ll follow the steps it took to create a sample .NET Core page
  

2) Visit the Progress community and post your questions related to .NET Core support in Sitefinity

3) We have also prepared a short FAQ section providing answers to many questions our users ask.

4) Documentation about the .NET Core rendered is available here.

And last but not least, we have a number of comprehensive training materials to support both aspiring and seasoned Sitefinity developer.

Want to learn more about the new .NET Core Frontend add-on? 

Talk to a Sitefinity Expert